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Jared Hemming

2 kids struck by lightning in Duluth area are improving

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Two children struck by lightning in separate incidents in St. Louis County Sunday are recovering, said a spokesperson for a Duluth hospital.

Nathan Burke, 12, was updated from critical to fair condition and Ava Mott, 4, was updated from fair to good condition at Duluth's Essentia Health-St. Mary's Medical Center.

Ava Mott's father, 51-year-old Jay Mott, remains in critical condition. Mott was struck by lightning while holding his daughter near a Cherry Township recreational facility. The St. Louis County Sheriff's Office said bystanders who administered CPR revived the man at the scene.

The girl was taken by ambulance to St. Mary's hospital. Her father was transferred to the same Duluth hospital after he was first taken to a hospital in Hibbing. All three lightning victims remained at St. Mary's as of Tuesday morning.

Burke was struck by lightning at Duluth's Enger Park Golf Course shortly before 4 p.m. A Duluth police spokesperson told the Duluth News Tribune that course officials had just blown a warning horn to urge players off the course when lighting struck Burke.

Both lightning incidents happened Sunday afternoon during thunderstorms that swept through northern Minnesota.